


You and Me Both

by scribblemyname



Series: stainofmylove promptathon [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, F/M, First Meeting, Post-Divorce, Rebound Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:29:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3837139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/pseuds/scribblemyname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bobbi doesn't want to admit it hurts and stings, the words going 'round and 'round in her head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You and Me Both

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geckoholic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckoholic/gifts).



> Prompt: Bobbi or Clint/Bobbi, I'm hoping to find something that reminds me of myself

_"All I see is a lie. All you are is a lie."_  
  
Bobbi doesn't want to admit it hurts and stings, the words going 'round and 'round in her head as she moves purposefully through the SHIELD hallways toward a gym. She wants to hit something and feel something real under her hands.  
  
She's not the only one, or she's lost her touch at reading people. The gym's only dimly lit, one switch turned on in the far corner where a male SHIELD agent is beating into a punching bag with brutal, efficient hits that didn't come out of the military or the standard training new recruits went through. There is none of the finesse of martial arts, just hit them down and a slight lack of economy to his motion that implies he expresses himself with his body and knows how to perform.  
  
She makes herself walk a little louder and greets, "Hey," as she comes close enough to surprise him.  
  
He turns, looks at her, eyes almost bright in the dark, but it worked and he doesn't spook. "A little late, isn't it?"  
  
Yeah, so? she wants to ask, but she doesn't. "Want to spar with me?" she asks instead because there's something else in his activity she recognizes, something she thinks would feel good to deal with. Anger. Hurt. Just so done.  
  
He studies her for a long moment. He goes over to the side and picks up a water bottle. She watches his arms flex with the motion, and something startling and hot spikes through her.  
  
"You like hitting people over bags?" he finally counters.  
  
Bobbi almost laughs, remembering Mack groaning on the ground earlier. "No, I'm more the kind who lays a man flat on his back."  
  
"Well, you don't have to spar with me to do that." He delivers it easy with a smile twisted up on one side like he knows she's interested.  
  
And so what if she is. She stares at him, fiddles with the edge of her boxing glove for a moment, then confirms. "You offering?"  
  
"You interested?"  
  
"Yeah," she decides, deliberately packing up the thought of Hunter and tucking him away. "I am."  


* * *

  
  
It's raw and honest and hard and fast. This isn't about love or having a good time. It's about having something real and without the obligations and complications that go with a long-term relationship headed south in a bad way. It's about drowning out the pain of those words— _"All you are is a lie"_ —and feeling like the truth won't make everything crumble.  
  
Afterward, they breathe heavily side by side in the dark of his room on base, and she thinks she knows who he is. There's a bow hanging on the wall and a quiver on the far side of the room. Even in an organization as unconventional as SHIELD, the preferred weapon is not common.  
  
She doesn't ask about it though. Those aren't the truths she's interested in.  
  
Bobbi rolls over on her side and looks at him. He looks back.  
  
"Did you leave her or did she leave you?" It's almost inappropriate to ask, but it's really not, not with the way they are both raw and undressed before each other's trained eyes. They are spies. This was never meant to be private.  
  
He sighs, looks away. "Neither," he says. "She's just... gone."  
  
Bobbi nods, doesn't ask. He's said what he's willing to. But she can't help but think that'd be easier.  
  
Hunter— She's not thinking about Hunter. She grimaces, rolls back over.  
  
She's almost surprised when she feels Barton's arm come around her and hold her with a gentleness she hasn't earned.  
  
"I've been left too," he says softly, at last. "It gets better."  
  
She swallows down the way that makes her throat ache. She doesn't cry, doesn't answer, just lets herself sleep in the comfort of another's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a backstory for Clint's side, but it seemed out of scope to include it, so I didn't.


End file.
